


Tin Gods

by Wix



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bad Team Dynamics, M/M, Not A Fix-It, One-Sided Attraction, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Revised Accords, Sokovia Accords, Team Dynamics, not team Cap friendly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-15
Updated: 2018-12-15
Packaged: 2019-09-18 12:09:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16994739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wix/pseuds/Wix
Summary: Steve thinks he's fixing things.He's not.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I told myself 'Wix, DON'T start a new story' and my muses laughed and laughed and here you all go.  
> Enjoy.

They’re back in the States by the end of the week.

It’s almost…insulting how quickly everything seems to go away. All the problems that had seemed so insurmountable just days ago falling away to the wayside with absolutely no effort on their parts. The world was so desperate after all to just find someone, anyone, to shovel all of the blame on and with Tony Stark currently unavailable to take on that role this time, they were forced to find someone else.

T’Challa was quick to offer up Secretary Thaddeus Ross, and like clockwork Steve watched in a kind of terrified awe as the world went after the man with all of the force, self-awareness and subtlety of a mob on a witch hunt.

Ross’s crimes stack up almost instantly and they create a noose that he’s hung with in days.

The unexpected part of the whole thing though, is that Steve and his are granted immunity within seven days with the king’s help. Not just that, but they’re actually offered _apologies_ about the whole thing.

Within seven days, they’re being welcomed back with open arms as the heroes who once again fought against the evil government machine and won. It seems like the only thing the world is ready to hate irrationally more than Tony Stark for just existing is the American Government in any form or capacity.

On the eighth day, the Accords are practically thrown at Steve’s feet with a red marker and a hail mary pass for whatever changes he thinks are best and should be rewritten, replaced or created. At first, Steve thinks it’s a trap, and there is plenty of reasons why he would think that, but which each passing ‘amendment’ that gets immediately accepted and written into the legislation without any pushback whatsoever, Steve finds himself thinking that less and less.

This is how it should have happened the first time around.

This is how it should have gone, before Ross managed to flip Tony through Tony’s guilt and a misplaced sense of what he thought was ‘doing the right thing’ and tried to tear the Avengers apart from the inside.

But the final joke is on Ross, and those like Ross. The Avengers are stronger now than ever before instead of the opposite like Ross tried and now all of the others hiding in the shadows of government with their malicious agendas knew that too.

Steve does have to admit…it’s nice how strangely easy it is to bulldoze his way over the old Accords. Since the world isn’t fighting him on any of it. It’s just taking whatever he offers up like its gold and with Tony not currently able to be present to be the voice of constant disagreement things are moving along like a well-oiled machine.

Clint makes a few comments about how the cog in the machine was obviously Tony all this time, but Steve knows that’s not entirely true. Tony has his place in all of this, it’s just that sometimes he tried to step out of it and the fallout was always spectacular.

Natasha’s been at his side through this time though, and he’s so grateful for the red-head. She’s been his constant counsel, helping him push and push to get as much as he can into the books while people are still feeling enough goodwill not to fight him on anything or really take a deeper look into things, and before Tony wakes up least the billionaire try to undo everything out of a misguided place of spite.

And Natasha always knows best, and so Steve does exactly what she tells him to do. He pushes and he writes and he ‘debates’ and at the end of the day he’s proud of all of the changes that they’ve made. Changes that will protect them going forward against any who would try to be an outside aggressor against the Avengers.

…and because of their history, he puts in a few clauses just in case, to get in front of the issue that Tony will be when he returns to the Avengers Initiative. Just a few clauses and requirements that’ll keep the balance of power out of the brunet’s hands an in the right people’s hands until he’s shown that he can be trusted with it.

The team is more than happy to help him with these clauses and stopgaps, proud that Steve’s finally doing something about the brunet this time around before Tony has a chance to steamroll over them once again.  

As funny as it is, things had been so easy that he’d actually gotten used to it that he was understandably caught off guard and upset when he finally runs into a wall that seems to be unmovable. He figures he’s not surprised in the slightest that while Tony might not be present right now, that doesn’t stop his acolytes from raising hell and digging their feet in against Steve in his stead.

It all starts with the simplest of things, and it lets Steve know how the cookie is going to crumble in later experiences.

It all starts with Steve and the rest of the team being turned away from Tony’s hospital wing. They’d gone all together to show a united front and to all have a few moments to speak with their wayward member. Tony wasn’t really in a place to be receiving guests or interacting with them, but Steve had heard somewhere that outside stimuli was recommended for coma patients.

However, they’re stopped at the door by Pepper Potts herself. Tony’s ex-girlfriend dug her heels into the linoleum and refused to allow them visitation to the billionaire’s bedside. Steve felt blindsided and a little betrayed by the woman, but after a while he guesses he wasn’t really surprised. Pepper had always hated them and she’d never been quiet about it when Tony wasn’t around.

Natasha had told him to just relent to Potts this one time on this one thing and Steve almost couldn’t do it. It’s only when Natasha reminds him that there is still so much that they need to do that Pott’s can’t hinder them for unless they give her something to use against them and the only thing she has that they want is Tony.

And she’ll use him as she sees fit to destroy them over something she doesn’t understand. She’ll use him against them over a series of events that she has no real context for and no real understanding of. She’s just ready to lash out and she’s picked Steve as her intended victim and Tony’s not aware or awake to be able to explain to her the truth that they all had their parts to play.

Tony a little more than most.

_“He should be here, where we can protect him. Come on Nat! You know how many people would give their right arm to have a chance to get at him while he’s like this! He’s defenseless! How do we even know that they’re doing everything they can for him?” Steve argues, pacing around his office and Natasha doesn’t budge._

_“Potts is the medical power of attorney for Tony, Steve. There’s nothing we can do about that.”_

_“Why not? It should be us! We’re his team!”_

_“He never gave us that authority. When he wakes up, you can get it from him then but for right now – Potts holds all the cards.”_

_“And we can’t get around her? She’s compromised and she’s hurting him.”_

_“Even if we could, it’s set up that it goes from Potts, to Rhodes, to Hogan and then to somebody named Keener. In no reality are we going to manage to get it from all of them.”_

_“Keener? Is that Spider-Man?”_

_“No, I don’t think so.” Nat replies. “I doubt Tony would be that obvious.” She takes a step forward and places a hand on his arm. “Steve, there’s too much red tape here and Potts will strangle us with it if we give her half the chance. Just let this one go.”_

_“How can I do that? He’s hurt and he should be here.”_

_“Potts and Rhodes are making sure that he gets the best care possible.”_

_“The ‘best care’?” Steve snaps. “They’re intentionally keeping him in a coma! How is that not a sign that something is going on here? We don’t know anything about his condition, they won’t tell us anything. How are we supposed to know for sure that this is or isn’t the best option for him going forward?” _

_“It’s not as uncommon as you think for a medically induced coma to be used in certain circumstances. You said it yourself, we don’t know anything about his condition, so we can’t know that this isn’t the best option for him going forward. Plus, they’ve brought in Cho. You know Cho, you trust Cho. You know she’ll do everything she can and she would have been the person we called anyway.”_

_“We should still know what’s happening. We should be kept inside the loop.” Steve argues._

_“Potts has full authority over Tony right now, and she’ll go to the grave long before she gives us an inch on him.” Natasha sighs. “Potts cares about Tony as much as we do. She’ll make sure that they take care of him. You know that Steve.”_

Steve eventually relented to Natasha’s words, but not before he spends the whole night coming up with a plethora of rules, regulations and requirements regarding medical care and procedures for Avengers members to make sure that something like this can never happen again. He calms himself by writing line after line about how an Avenger harmed in any situation or circumstance was to be brought immediately to the Avengers Compound’s medical wing and how being an active member would put ‘medical power of attorney’ in with the team and the team leader over a civilian, and how it would allow the added safety and security of a vetted medical team and staff working on them instead of just whoever was working the floor that night.

Steve’s able to let go of the rest of that frustration and panic when he offers up his thoughts the next morning to the Accords Council and they agree on each and every single point.

He tries to see if he can use it retroactively to pull Tony from Pepper’s grasp, but the changes won’t go into effect on Tony until he wakes back up and is made aware of the new changes to the Accords. So Pott’s think’s she won this one, but Steve’s the one who has in the end. Steve just hopes that Tony doesn’t suffer the consequences of his friends’ ire with Steve in the meantime. Steve will never forgive Potts or Rhodes if something happens to Tony when it could have been avoided if they had just let him help.

Steve can’t help how often he finds his mind going to the absent brunet. It makes sense in its own way though, there is so much damage between them that they need to sit down and discuss. There’s still so much that they need to move past and Steve feels himself cracking under the weight of this burden that he must carry until he’s able to look Tony in the eyes and get the other man to forgive him and ask for forgiveness in return.

Steve’s ready to forgive Tony.

He’s so past ready.

Rhodes and Vision haven’t really been much help in the interim either though. For different reasons, sure, but still making everything work less efficiently than it should. Rhodes has been mostly keeping to himself since that first day in the Compound, and Steve can’t help but have his attention drawn to the cast on the mans arm each time he sees him, remembering how Rhodes punched Steve and let loose words that should never be repeated. He still comes by though, ignoring them each time and outright refusing to answer them when they speak to him – he’s _killing_ Sam with that behavior, but as Rhodes ‘reminded’ them he’s not an active Avengers member. He’s just filler, owned and offered up on loan by the government and by Tony Stark and as such Steve holds no authority over him and he’ll do what he pleases, and apparently what he pleases is dragging Sam over the coals for something that wasn’t his fault. How Tony like of him. – focused only on checking in on the Vision and keeping the android company.

According to Vision though, he gives no information about Tony’s condition or state least Steve try to ‘pull a fast one’ and demand the information from Vision under his ‘newfound tyrant authority’. Steve just shakes his head. Rhodes was the one who wanted and vouched for clear lines of authority and responsibility. Now he had a problem with them when he saw what that really looked like?

Vision himself seems strangely distant from them in his own way. Floating in and out of rooms and conversations like he doesn’t know what he should do or where he belongs. He doesn’t engage in conversation with any of them willingly, not even Wanda, as he goes about his days in a kind of ghosting haze.

Steve’s caught him once or twice staring at the hole in the floor, and he only gets involved to order Vision to avoid the area when he finds the android laying down at the bottom of it again, looking up at the ceiling like he’s going to get some kind of answer that he hasn’t figured out yet.

One of the first things he’ll have Tony do is fix that hole. There’s no need for such a visual representation of a bad time in all of their lives.

Steve tries to show that their behavior isn’t affecting him though. He tries to show that the blatant, ill-placed hostility from those who once sided with Tony isn’t something that he’s going to hold against them. He goes out of his way to show that he isn’t holding onto any grudges himself and that he still considers those who Tony considers his to be Steve’s as well and that he’ll take care of them and protect them.

He runs into another brick wall though, because Vision claims to not know anything about ‘Harley Keener’ or who Spider-Man is -Steve’s not sure he believes him and he reminds him that if he’s lying, he’ll be in contempt of the Accord’s he signed, but Vision maintains his stance – and neither Rhodes nor Potts will give up any information on the final Avenger in Tony’s corner either. It worries Steve a little because the Spider-Man has been strangely absent from the streets ever since ‘Team Cap’ has returned.

Like he’s hiding from them.

Like he _has_ to hide from them.

It’s ridiculous, and it’s dangerous. Leaving the kid out there unprotected and without guidance. Unfortunately, no amount of trying on Steve’s part makes Rhodes see that and Steve hopes that nothing happens to the kid in the meantime. Wanda offered to go ‘speak’ with Rhodes about the kid, but Steve declines the offer. It won’t be any good if they start turning on each other again, and Steve’s not going to let one of Tony’s start back up the war when he’s already finished it.

The days go on like that, one by one and Steve is horrified to find out that he’s not told that Tony’s finally awoken from his coma and is out of the hospital. Steve only finds out about it because he manages to accidentally stumble across him in one of the far conference rooms in the Compound.

The sight of the brunet sitting at that giant table almost makes him trip over his own feet and for a brief moment he wonders if this is a mirage brought forth by wishful thinking or if it’s really Tony in there.

The answer that it’s really Tony is like a balm to an open wound that Steve didn’t even realize was festering inside of him. He moves forward and tries to enter the room to greet the other and to inquire about the rationality of being up and about so soon after his hospitalization, but the door doesn’t budge when he tugs on it. Steve takes a moment, tugging a few times before he notices the little red light that shows that the room is locked off from outside interference and Tony doesn’t glance up when Steve knocks on the window to get his attention.

Steve notices how Tony has whole sections of what Steve can only guess is the new and revised Accords laid out on the table in front of him. Tony looks like he’s focused entirely on them, making marks with various colored pens and highlighters before writing down some kind of note on the tablet laying on the table next to him.

He looks good, a little worn around the edges like he hasn’t gotten a good night’s sleep in a while and his goatee isn’t shaped anymore making Steve wonder just how long Tony’s been awake before he made his way to this room and got started on trying to undo all of Steve’s hard work.

“Tony!” Steve tries again, knocking a little harder on the door and the brunet doesn’t respond, like he can’t even hear him. “FRIDAY, open this door.” Steve commands and he waits to see the little red light shift to green…but nothing happens. “FRIDAY, you know the rules of the Compound. I’ve told you to open the door, you’re in direct violation if you continue to refuse. This is an order from the team leader. Open this door.”

The AI is still stubbornly silent and the light remains red.

Of course it does. Steve’s not even sure why he’s surprised that the AI is acting out again. It hasn’t exactly been helpful up till now and Steve isn’t looking forward to having to have that conversation with Tony about fixing and rewriting FRIDAY to fix these kinds of problems in the future.

“Team to conference room C.” Steve says over the intercom and he waits for a few minutes for the team to arrive. He just watches Tony in the meantime, seeing how the brunet pours over the pages in front of him. Sometimes writing down something with a sort of sigh and shake of his head like he can’t believe what he’s seeing, or how he’ll flip through a different section as if cross checking something and making notes about something or another.

“Tony’s here?” Natasha says as they all approach, surprise in her voice which tells Steve that Tony’s camp hasn’t released to the press that the billionaire has woken up or is out and about.

“Already getting started? Couldn’t even wait a fucking day before he has to start trying to find ways to fuck everything up.” Clint snaps, leaning forward and banging his hand against the glass.

Once again, there’s no response from the man inside.

“They’re soundproof remember?” Natasha reminds him. “He can’t hear us if the door is sealed.” She checks the little red light. “Which it is.”

“Then get FRIDAY to open it.” Wanda all but demands and she looks like she’s getting ready to step into the ring and Steve sighs.

“I tried. FRIDAY is being insubordinate. It’s refusing to acknowledge the request.” He says and Natasha shakes her head.

“FRIDAY, you know that’s going to come back and bite Tony in the ass.” She warns it. “If Steve’s given the command to open the door, you need to open the door.” There’s still no response. “Vision, please deal with this.”

The Vision just nods once, and Steve’s prepared for the android to say something to the AI program to get the door open, but instead Vision just phases through the windows and steps into the room without them. He gets a response at that from Tony though, as the brunet glances up in surprise at someone stepping into the room with him. His eyes flicker back from Vision who is saying something to Tony that Steve can’t determine since his back is to them and Steve watches as Tony listens to what Vision is saying for a few seconds before he nods and makes a motion towards the door.

Steve is the first one inside the second that the android releases the lock.

“Tony.” Steve says, going to come over to where the other is and he’s a little surprised when Vision just _happens_ to place himself in his way. “Vision?”

“Please keep your distance. Mr. Stark is still unwell.” Vision says and Steve frowns.

“Stand down Vision.” He commands to the other and Vision tilts his head.

“I was not aware that I was doing anything that would require for me to ‘stand down’.” He tells Steve. “But Mr. Stark requires space. You are in the room are you not? You have the ability to speak with him, you need not be on top of him to engage him in conversation.”

“Steve told you to stand down Viz.” Wanda replies to that and Vision looks like he’s going to say something, possibly something about the nickname that he requested that no one – especially Wanda – call him before Steve overruled that as being against maintaining a friendly and cohesive team dynamic. Vision seems to think about it for a second – Steve will have to have words with him about that – before he shifts to the side with an unhappy look on his face and Steve walks past him, coming up to where Tony is still just taking notes.

“Tony, you should have come to say hello.” Steve admonishes.

“Didn’t want all the noise.” Tony replies. “I’ve got one hell of a headache. I didn’t want to add to it.”

“What are you doing?”

“I’m making note of the changes to the Avengers Initiative and to the Accords while I was… _asleep_.” He seems to scrunch his nose at that word and description for his time in a coma. “I’d hate to be in contempt of them through ignorance if it can be avoided. Since my signature was apparently grandfathered in.”

“Already looking for a way to fuck them up.” Clint asks at a much louder decibel then the sentence requires and Tony just lets out a soft chuckle.

“I don’t think that’s feasibly possible at this point, or at least not from what I’ve already read.” Tony replies to that and Steve feels a little bit of pride that their amendments and stopgaps are as thorough as they thought they were.

“What does that mean?” Natasha asks and Tony does a small shrug before writing down a note.

“She asked you a question Tony.” Steve says and Tony glances up at him.

“I was under the impression that the only one who had ‘overrule authority’ or whatever it’s being called was you. Not everyone else.” Tony replies. “As such, I don’t _have_ to answer a question posed to me by Romanov.”

“It’s Nat.” Steve tells him. “And for the most part that’s true, but it all depends on your level and the level of the person making the request.” Steve answers him. “Natasha is my second in command, she has a higher level of authority over you. You have to answer her questions just as if it were me.”

“I see. Where do I fit in inside this ‘leadership hierarchy’?”

“At the bottom of the line.” Clint smirks.

“So in theory, _everyone_ here is a higher ‘level of authority’ than me? Even Maximoff or Wilson?”

“You know their names Tony, use them.” Steve frowns. “And…yes. For now, for a little while until you build back up rapport and trust, yes.”

“I see.” Tony looks back down at his papers. “That’ll be interesting to see how that plays out.”

“What do you mean?” Steve asks and Tony shrugs.

“Finding where the line is. Right now, no one knows where it is so they pretend it doesn’t exist or that it’s absolute. Or who knows, maybe I just haven’t gotten to the page yet where it says it is. Like I said, I’m still catching up. However, certain information or commands won’t be able to be obeyed regardless of any ‘Avengers Authority’. I’m just curious how all that plays out.”

“What information do you think you have that you can’t give us Stark?” Wanda snaps and Tony looks at Steve like he’s waiting for something before he shakes his head with a sigh.

“No ‘It’s Tony’ then. Okay, good to know. I’m still the head of the R&D of Stark Industries. I’m still on the Board of SI. I still run multiple companies and subsidiaries across the board and I still have military contracts, contacts and agreements that I cannot and will not break for the Avengers. Your imagined ‘authority’ over me ends there.” Tony looks at the pages again. “Although I will say that I’m not sure whether or not I should be amused, annoyed or just exasperated at the whole sections written into these pieces of crap that were clearly written under the ‘Let’s Just Fuck Tony Over’ mentality.”

“We had to put those in there to keep you in line Stark.” Clint retorts and Tony just shrugs like he’s too tired to respond to that.

“Tony stop.” Steve says, reaching out and putting a hand on Tony’s shoulder. The brunet tenses up under his fingers for a second before he jerks away from Steve’s touch.

“Don’t ever put your hands on me again Rogers.” He says and his voice is cold in a way that Steve’s never head from him before.

“You don’t get to tell Steve what to do Stark.” Wanda snaps.

“I get to tell him that.” Tony replies instantly. “And it would be irresponsible for you to tell me to stop. I’m trying to see how the new layout works. One would think that would be something you would all want. Less confusion in the future.”

“You’re just trying to find a way around it.” Wanda accuses and Tony shrugs.

“Even if I were, there are whole sections that actively work against me in that.” He says. “I’ve only found about four of them, but I’m sure there are more. I’ve only gotten through about twenty two percent of the entire document though, so I’m optimistic that there will be so much more to shake my head at in the near future.”

“You’re the one who wanted this Stark.” Clint gloats. “You’re the one who wanted ‘responsibility’ and ‘chains of command’. What, don’t like it now that it’s actually here?” Tony doesn’t say anything to that. “I asked you a question Stark.”

“I wanted ‘responsibility’ and ‘recourse’ and all of that, yes.” He replies almost instantly and Steve is secretly pleased with how quickly Tony’s adjusting. It bodes good things. “I wanted what the world was asking of us, yes. But this?” He motions to the papers laid out on the table. “This is by far the worst response the Avengers could have ever had to those requests.”

“The rest of the world seems just fine with the changes we’ve made. Just because _you_ don’t like them isn’t any reason to say that they’re bad. If anything, it’s proof that we’re on the right path.” Clint tells him.

“Ever heard the phrase ‘give them enough rope to hang themselves with’?” Tony asks softly. “Avengers, meet your rope.” He says as he motions once again to the Accords. “You’ve taken more than enough to end it all.”

“You’re not the only one who knows how to work their way around a government document Tony.” Natasha says. “Just because it’s not how you would have done it doesn’t make it wrong.” Tony doesn’t say anything to that and Steve reaches over and takes away the section that he’s working on.

‘I said stop Tony.” Steve repeats firmly. “We need to talk to you.”

“I have a feeling that I’m going to start to really hate this ‘Steve says’ game.” Tony mutters softly before he looks up at him expectantly. “What do you need?”

“…how are you feeling?” Steve asks and Tony shrugs.

“I got the green light to leave the hospital.” He answers him.

“That’s not what I asked.” Steve catches him.

“I feel like I have a headache. It’s compounding, but I have things to do. Which you’re stopping me from, which is adding to the headache.” Tony shrugs. “It’s a vicious cycle it seems.”

“Pepper wouldn’t tell us anything.” Steve starts and Tony nods.

“Good, that’s what I would have expected from her.” He replies but he holds up a hand when Steve goes to ask. “And before you ask, I have yet to read the ‘medical’ section and requirements, although I’ve been given some horrifying highlights from it that I’m hoping is Rhodey playing a trick on me but from what I’ve seen so far I’m not really holding out hope for that – but at this point I’m going to say that I don’t know where the rules stand and as such I will not answer any questions or requests posed to me about my personal and private health until I look into it and figure it out.”

“You can pretty much just assume that if we ask, regardless of what it is – you tell.” Clint fills in for him and Tony gives him a look.

“No.” He says and it makes Clint puff up. “Until I know for _certain_. I will not answer anything. You wanted lines? I need to know where they are. If I don’t get to go over them, neither do you.”

“The lines are pretty fucking simple where you’re concerned Stark. If we tell, you do it. If we ask, you tell us. Period. No more fucking secrets from you anymore. Get used to it.”

“No more secrets?” Tony glances at Steve. “Wouldn’t that be a Utopia?”

“Stop antagonizing the situation Tony.” Natasha tells him and Tony just smiles at her.

“Of course.” He says and Steve still feels like he’s being insubordinate. They’ll have to work on it. There’s a beep that comes from Tony’s watch and Tony glances at it before he sighs. “That late already?” He mutters to himself as he goes to stand.

“Wait, we still haven’t talked.” Steve tells him.

“I’m under the impression that’s what we’ve been doing this whole time.” Tony retorts as he doesn’t bother to look at Steve, packing up his papers. “But I have to go. Meeting.”

“We’re having a meeting now.” Steve tells him. “Mandatory.” He states when Tony goes to say something and Tony gives him a look of annoyance. “Mandatory meetings are just that – mandatory. And I can call them at any time for any reason. I’m calling one now.”

“So sit your ass down Stark.” Clint says with a grin. “Get comfortable. You’re not going anywhere until we say otherwise.”

“FRIDAY?” Tony says after a brief pause. “Please tell Pepper I’m going to be a little late for the meeting. Apparently, the Avengers are choosing to use their absolute tyrant ability right now and are preventing my departure.”

“It’s not a ‘tyrant’ ability Tony.” Natasha says with a roll of her eyes. “It’s a meeting.”

“Tomato, tomahto.” Tony mutters.

 ** _‘Done Boss. Miss Potts has acknowledged.’_** FRIDAY replies over the speakers and Steve frowns.

“That’s one matter of business that we need to discuss. FRIDAY-” Steve starts and Tony who just can’t help himself cuts him off.

“FRIDAY is Stark Ware and is not under the purview of the Accords or the Avengers.” He says. “So anything she wants to do she can do without recourse.”

“Don’t interrupt me Tony.” Steve reprimands gently. “And FRIDAY is part of Iron Man and is part of the Compound.” There’s a pause and Steve looks at Tony expectantly.

“Oh, am I allowed to answer now? I’m getting confused. You do realize I just woke up from a coma like a few hours ago yes?” Tony snaps back sarcastically. “And _I’m_ Iron Man. _I’m_ the one that the Accords can establish any authority over if I continue to allow it. FRIDAY is able to _connect_ to the armor and to the Compound but she is not a part of them. As such, she’s her own entity.”

“FRIDAY’s always been available to the Avengers.” Natasha points out and Tony shrugs. “So your argument doesn’t hold.”

“FRIDAY is a self-aware AI. She does what I ask of her and what her programing requires. Said programing does not answer to you. End of discussion. She is private Stark property just like the armors. You have no authority over them. And before you try to say you do – no you don’t, I checked. And you’re not going to get it regardless of what ‘amendments’ you put in the Accords so let it go. If FRIDAY doesn’t want to engage, she doesn’t have to.”

“What do you mean if you ‘continue to allow it’?” Steve asks, catching onto that sentence and Tony looks at him.

“Well, honestly Rogers, I’m pretty damn sure that I’m quitting the Avengers Initiative.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And as always, I got this typed up pretty quickly and here you all go!  
> Thank you for the amazing reviews! I can't wait to see what you'll say for this chapter!

Steve stares at Tony in the aftermath of his statement and Natasha takes a step forward.

“Iron Man is under the jurisdiction of the Accords, Tony.” She says immediately to Tony’s little bombshell. “If you quit, you won’t be able to go out in the armor ever again.” It’s a heavy threat, and possibly one of the only threats that will always make Tony back down.

Tony loves the suit. More than Pepper or Rhodes, more than the team, more than his own life, more that anything. If there was ever a real trump card that the Accords ever gave Steve and the others over Tony it was this: obey or lose Iron Man.

“Well, then I guess that it’s fortunate that at this point in time I can’t go out in the armor anymore.” Tony replies and the small amount of assuredness inside Steve starts to shrivel up and die. “Health reasons, I’m sure you understand without needing to go into specifics.” He looks at Steve who hasn’t found a way to get his feet back underneath him.

Tony wants to quit?

Tony thinks somehow that quitting is preferable than a working system?

Why? Because they’re finally putting up the necessary boundaries? Wasn’t he always the first person who used to say that they needed them? Hasn’t this been something he’s been trying to push for since the Avengers first moved into the Tower and started becoming a household name?

“Quitting isn’t the answer Tony.” Steve says eventually, feeling his tongue finally peel off of the roof of his mouth and manage to form words. “Think this through, quitting isn’t the answer and you know it.”

“I’ll admit that I didn’t think it was before I got here.” Tony says with a small tilt of his head like he’s thinking it through. “I woke up and I was confused and pissed – I’m sure you can imagine why since you know Siberia was only a _few hours ago_ to me, but then I got informed of these ‘changes’ and I thought Rhodey was overselling it.” Tony shakes his head. “I actually see now that he was _underselling_ it and that’s just terrifying.”

“You’re healing. You just woke up from a traumatic ordeal and you shouldn’t be up out of bed, let alone making big decisions like this.” Natasha says and Tony gives her a look.

“I’m just fine. Got signed out and everything.” Tony tells her. “So let me be clear _Nat_.” Her name sounds like an insult to all of them on his tongue. “Even if I hadn’t had the thought prior to coming here, I sure as hell would have had it when you all walked in here and started with the ‘Tony jump when we say it, bark when we say it, roll over like a good little bitch’ bullshit.”

“Language.” Steve says and it’s a kneejerk response.

“Get fucked.” Tony replies easily. “I’m not interested in staying around for any of that.”

“That’s not what’s happening at all.” Steve argues and Tony gives him a look like he’s crazy. “We’re just trying to create a hierarchy of responsibility. That’s what you wanted remember?”

“What I ‘wanted’ was something a lot less ‘Steve Rogers’ Regime’ and a lot more ‘Avengers Initiative Done Right’.” Tony tells him. “As such all of this ‘we say, you do’ bullshit is just that -bullshit.”

“Clint was getting a little out of hand sure, but there’s a reason for these kinds of rules. We didn’t just put them in there to slight you. We had a reason.” Steve says. “You can’t deny that if we had had something like this before, then the ‘civil war’ wouldn’t have happened.”

“If we had had something like this before, the ‘civil war’ wouldn’t have needed to happen because the world would have torn us a new one and Pepper would have _never_ let you get away with any of this let alone Happy or Rhodey when it came to ‘my part’ in your perfect little Avengers setup.” Tony retorts.

“There’s nothing wrong with ‘your part’.” Steve argues.

“Seriously? Are you playing with me or are you that deluded that you believe that? Okay then, if there’s nothing wrong with it how about it be _your_ part and I’ll take over yours.” Tony says. “If there’s nothing wrong with it you shouldn’t have an issue.”

“You’re not leader material Tony.” Steve corrects him gently.

“That’s where you’re wrong. I’ve led the biggest company in the world for over a decade. I’ve lead hundreds of smaller ones too. I’ve led charities, and projects, and fundraisers and all kinds of fun little things over the years which have required teams and ‘set hierarchy’ setups where I was at the top and go figure – everything worked out fine.” Tony throws out to that.

“There’s a freedom in what we’re giving you, don’t you see that?” Steve asks and Tony just stares at him like he’s grown another head. “No, really there is. If Ultron happened tomorrow? It wouldn’t be your fault because you weren’t in charge and you weren’t unsupervised at any point in time. There would be no second guessing you or your motives because it would be transparent.” Steve tries to make Tony understand. “It’s easier at the bottom as you call it. It’s harder to be us. We’re going to be responsible for you, so you don’t have to be responsible for anything. It’s not a bad thing, Tony, just the opposite. It’s a system that works entirely to your benefit over ours.”

“Holy shit that was the craziest piece of crazy that anyone has tried to sell me in a long time.” Tony says and his voice sounds slightly awed. “It’s my benefit that I’ll have no say over my life, over my designs, over my time or anything else? It’s to my benefit that I become just a quiet little ‘yes man’ to _everyone_ else in the Avengers Initiative because it takes away any form of free will, choice or _responsibility_ from me? That’s fucking insane. That’s some bullshit ’50 Shades’ level bad BDSM behavior right there that I did not sign up for and I do not want.” Tony shakes his head. “I’ve had actual _cults_ try to sell that line better than what you’ve just done and they weren’t even trying to be subtle about it.”

“Watch your tone Stark.” Clint snaps and Tony gives him a look.

“How about I don’t?” He retorts. “I’m not an Avenger anymore, and I sure as hell am not going to abide by the Simon Says, or Steve Says in this case, at all.”

“You’re still an Avenger right now.” Clint throws back at him and Tony shakes his head.

“Yeah, with a _grandfathered_ signature shift which doesn’t hold water since even with that a person needs to acknowledge any new changes to a contract _before_ they’re held to it in a court of law. Plus, the US Constitution kind of frowns on slavery, so I don’t really think you want this going that far, but please by all means take it there if you want to. I won’t stop you. I _will_ laugh, I’ll just warn you now. I’ll laugh long and hard, but I’ll let you do it.”

“You’re still an Avenger right now, so you better plug it.” Clint repeats as he takes a step towards the brunet. “And if you think for one second that we’re going to let you out of our sight you’ve got another thing coming.”

“Is that a threat?” Tony asks almost airily and Clint takes another step forward.

“It damn well is.” He says with a grin and Tony matches it before Steve puts himself between them.

“Clint that’s enough.” Steve orders and Clint makes a huffing sound before he backs down. “Tony you too.”

“No.” Tony fires back. “FRIDAY, please inform the Council of my resignation and let Pepper know to start working on the press release for it.” Tony pauses before he perks up for a second. “Oh! And send a copy of these ‘Accords’ to her to add a section in there for it.”

 ** _‘On it Boss.’_** FRIDAY replies instantly and Steve silently curses the program out. Of course it works when they don’t need it to.

“Nat, call Ross and let him know to refuse the request.” Steve says, keeping eye contact with Tony and Nat pulls out her phone in the background.

“You know that you don’t actually have the authority to _demand_ that someone be an Avenger, right?” Tony asks, tilting his head as if he’s truly curious and Nat makes a frustrated sound.

“Very funny Tony.” She snaps and Tony smiles at her.

“Bad service?” He asks and there’s humor in his voice that tells them all he’s responsible for it. “Damn. It gets the best of us. What service provider do you have? T-Mobile? Sprint? You should really check their service areas. Then things like this might not happen.”

“Stop it Tony.” Steve tells him and Tony glances back at him.

“No.” Tony says, with an almost gleeful tone to his voice. Like he’s a two-year-old who has just gotten a newfound appreciation for the word and refuses to use any other. “The Avengers Compound might be called that by us in theory, but in reality, all the paperwork shows it as a Stark warehouse.” Tony grins. “That means that I own the building and I own the area surrounding it. If I want to make this building a dead spot, then that’s my prerogative and I’m going to do it.”

“This is why we had those sorts of clauses added.” Steve points out and Tony shakes his head.

“No, that’s not why.” He says and Steve stares him down or tries to but it doesn’t look like it’s doing anything. “Somewhere down the line you got an inch of power after having so many people constantly telling you yes and constantly cleaning up your messes for you that you started to think that these sorts of things were just your _right_. You got an inch so you ran with it a mile. And it concerns me that you dare to call yourself a ‘good man’, but the second that you were able to you wrote in a whole bunch of slavery clauses into the Accords to control the one person that didn’t go along with your views and ideals.”

“The people agreed with me.” Steve fires back. “The people that you say you wanted to listen to? They agreed with me. So, you don’t really want to listen to them Tony, you just want to do whatever it is that you want to do without recourse.”

“And you only believe in the chain of command if you’re at the top of it.” Tony throws back at him. “But ‘the people’ agreed with you did they now? Does the whole world know about the nitty gritty parts of your new Accords?” Tony asks and it sounds like a threat. “FRIDAY, please send a copy of these Accords to Christine please, complete with my notes and highlights.”

 ** _‘Sending it her way now.’_** FRIDAY, the ever-helpful AI responds.

“We’re not hiding anything Tony.” Steve says and Tony gives him a smirk.

“That’s the worst part. You are and you think you’re not. Wait till you see what _real_ transparency is like. You think the ‘world’ agrees with you? I guess we’re about to find out. Let’s call this a test. I’ll be honestly surprised if this doesn’t restart the village pyres.” Tony says and there’s a beep that comes from his wrist area and he pulls it up to glance at whatever information that is showing itself on the screen of his watch. “Now, I was here for the ‘meeting’ as my last token of goodwill towards the Avengers Initiative. However, I’m officially retired as of a few seconds ago so good luck, I’m looking forward to roasting marshmallows on the fires that the world is going to set you on.”

“You belong here Tony, with us.” Steve tries, cutting the brunet off and Tony shakes his head.

“I’m starting to think that I belong almost anywhere you’re not.” Tony tells him before he pauses and glances over towards Vision. “Oh…and Vision…if you want you can come with me.” He offers looking at the android and Clint steps in-between them.

“Vision stays Stark. He knows that some things are more important than his fucking ego.” Clint snarls and Tony just looks past him at the lost looking android.

“You can retire too Vision.” He says and his voice is soft and kind. “See the world, learn a new hobby or two.” He gets a tiny smile. “Fall in love, read poetry or learn an instrument. Go to college, get a degree. Learn the absolute soul crushing frustration of trying to write a book…anything you want.”

“Viz is already in love Stark.” Wanda snaps, coming forward and taking the android’s hand in hers. There’s a moment of silence as the android glances down at their hands, strangely silent and still in a way that he tries not to be most days so as not to seem inhuman before he slowly withdraws his hand from Wanda’s and nods.

“I would like that.” He says and Tony’s smile to that statement is beautiful.

“FRI, you know the drill.” Tony says and Steve doesn’t wait to hear whatever the AI says as he steps closer to Tony who squares off his shoulders like he’s going to take on the super soldier as his normal baseline human self.

“Tony stop. That’s enough.” Steve tells him. “You’re not quitting and Vision’s not quitting. We’re going to sit down and talk about this and what is _actually_ expected of us all and how it’ll really play out. You’re reacting from a place of ignorance as you called it. You admitted that you don’t know the actual lines, so let’s discuss them before you make any rash decisions and before you make someone else make the wrong choice too.”

“Um…one – I’m already retired.” Tony says. “Two – I didn’t _make_ Vision do anything. He’s decided that he wants another option than the one he’s currently on and I offered. He accepted, it’s a done deal. Three – you don’t get to decide that it’s the wrong choice for Vision, only Vision gets to decide that.” Tony makes a face. “And newsflash. Life is a series of bad choices and wrong choices and good choices and choices that don’t really have a true weight one way or the other. We all have to make them, that’s just the lot in life that we’re given. Vision gets to have the right to make those choices too, regardless of how you feel about it.” Tony steps around Steve at that in a move that’s oddly quick and graceful for someone who has just woken up from a coma and should probably be in bed. “Now you might want to clear all the stuff out that you want before the pink slip comes down the pipeline. Or don’t, that’s fine with me too. I can always give it away to charity or something.”

“You’re not going anywhere Stark.” Clint says and Tony just comes over to Vision’s side, reaching out and giving the android a look that the android must understand on some level because he nods, reaching out and taking Tony’s offered hand – and the two of them phase through the floor and out of the room.

“What the?” Sam says, startled into speaking up for the first time and Steve tears out of the conference room towards the stairs where he can get down to the labs where Vision and Tony are right now. They’re not leaving, they can’t leave until they’ve managed to get past this little hurdle and start figuring out how this was going to work going forward.

Steve almost feels like cursing when he gets down to an empty lab and he knows that Tony must have lied about the suit and not being able to pilot it.

This isn’t over though. Not yet.

+++

To a point, there’s a kind of division in the world at the ‘reveal’ and ‘in depth review’ of Steve’s Accords.

There are a few that speak out in slight favor of it, crediting Steve with the foresight of dealing with someone like Tony Stark and just doing anything he can to try and get in front of that.

The louder voices though start murmuring all together about correlations between fascism and totalitarian dictatorships and Steve sees someone paint a mural on the side of a building in full view of the new Avengers offices where a whole bunch of what looks to be Nazi soldiers are on one side looking up and saying ‘Heil Rogers’ with the Nazi salute and the image of Captain America is standing across from them, taking their praise and salutes with a proud look and stance about him.

Steve hates it. It’s tasteless and he wants to throw his phone when he sees that Tony has seen it too, posting it on his social media pages with a relish.

_“Well, those agreements are more of a ‘self-governing’ sort of thing.” Ross says to the press when he’s interviewed. “If the Avengers wished to run themselves that way internally, and if they agreed to it on their own terms, we didn’t see a reason to step in and say that they couldn’t. Were we concerned? Yes, absolutely, did we expect it to get out of hand as quickly as it did? No, not at all. But what people need to realize is that the governing accords documents that Mr. Rogers and his camp have come up with are not legally binding in any way. The UN does not have the authority nor the desire to make a document like that legal. We absolutely apologize to Mr. Stark who was singled out in this unprofessional and dangerous way, especially so soon after his recovery. We wish him all the best and we hope that there is no hostility between Mr. Stark and the Accords Council…” Steve turns off the television._

_“He’s selling us out.” Sam says with a shake of his head and Clint sighs._

_“Of course he is. That’s why I hate fucking politicians.” The archer laments._

Natasha tells him that he has to start ‘playing the role’ again. The role he hasn’t played in a while, not since his days up on stage.

The role of the ‘Man with A Plan’ Star Spangled Dream Come True with a dimpled smile and an aw-shucks demeanor that you want to bring home to your mother. She says that it’s necessary for all the people who are looking at him in concern now.

His ‘ideals’ they say are dangerous. Especially for someone with so much power, leading someone like the Witch around.

Steve finds it funny that they never seem to focus on Clint or Nat or Sam, seemingly finding the three of them as throwaway Avengers as opposed to Iron Man or Captain America or The Vision or The Scarlet Witch.

Replaceable, Steve’s heard them called. He doesn’t like it, but he can see why someone would say it.

Steve doesn’t see Tony again in the flesh until the day that the portal opens up over Stark Towers and Steve and the others mobilize to come to the aid of their stubborn, wayward member. Wanda gets them in easily enough, and she pushes the elevator up by the sheer force of her will and powers as they come out on Tony’s floor, ready to fight and defend against whatever foe has come to greet them today.

Instead of fighting though, they hear laughter.

Steve and the others quickly turn the corner and Steve’s grip on his new shields tightens. Standing in Tony’s bar area is _Loki_.

Loki who is gesturing with his hands, a tiny amused smile on his face as he tells Tony something and Tony who is laughing at the frost giant’s words as he takes sips of his drink. It takes a moment before the two of them look their way.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Tony asks, sounding flabbergasted and Clint growls.

“What the fuck is _he_ doing here?” He snarls and Tony glances at Loki, before looking down at the tumbler in Loki’s hand and glancing back at them.

“I offered him a drink once. He came to collect.” Tony says like it’s the most obvious answer in the world. They’re spared any response to that when Thor steps out of the bathroom, drying his hands and looking like he’s tried to get some kind of ash or soot off of him and failed.

“Ah, shield-brothers,” He looks at Wanda and Nat. “And sisters. Tony didn’t mention you’d be by.”

“I didn’t think they’d be stupid enough to break in, but alas even I have to be wrong every now and then. Otherwise the world would get really boring.” Tony says as he takes another sip of his drink. “But seriously Thor, a snake?” Tony asks and Steve frowns at the random question as Thor looks sheepish.

“I like snakes.” Thor says softly and Tony gives him an amused look.

“I get that, I do…but _twice_?” Tony asks and Thor coughs to clear his throat from embarrassment.

“My brother should avoid telling tales like that. I might have a few of my own to share.” Thor threatens and Loki just smirks as he lifts the glass to his lips and drinks. “But we are not here for that.” Thor says, turning strangely somber and Steve sees how even Loki’s grin falters a little. “I come baring grave news. The Mad Titan makes plans to move against us all.”

+++

“I think Thanos was kinder.” Loki has the nerve to say as he looks over the Accords papers that Tony released to him as they wait. Steve _hates_ having the Asgardian prince here at the table with them, almost as much as Clint does.

Clint, who is practically seething with barely repressed rage. Steve’s actually worried that Loki might sneeze and set the archer off.

What’s worse though is the sort of laughter and comradery that Tony is showing with Loki that Steve knows he’s only doing just to spite them. Steve almost wants to ask Tony if it’s worth it, spitting in Clint’s face like this. Sure, the two of them had their issues, but nothing was reason enough for what Tony was doing now. Flouting and flaunting the trickster demi-god in front of them all with a grin and a twinkle in his eyes.

“I don’t know about that.” Tony says. “I heard from a friend of mine that he can be quite the dick.” Loki takes a moment before he looks at Tony and gets a small smile.

“Yes, he rather can be.” Loki replies and Steve feels his fist clench under the table and he doesn’t know why.

Or maybe he does. Maybe he doesn’t like how easily Tony’s accepting _Loki_ into his inner circle while keeping them out in the cold. Maybe he doesn’t like how Tony’s willing to overlook Loki’s hundreds of offenses against them and against the world, but he can’t overlook one little lie of omission from Steve and sees fit to drag Steve and the others over the coals for it.

“You’ve retired from the Avengers Initiative Mr. Stark.” Ross is saying, dragging all of their attentions back over to him. “Are you here because you wish to rejoin?”

“Tony’s welcome back any time.” Steve says and Loki snorts, a rather undignified sound coming from him as he flips through another page.

“With an agreement like this, I’m sure he would be.” Loki says and Steve doesn’t stop Clint when Clint snarls for Loki to shut his fucking face.

Ross frowns and Steve reaches out and puts a hand on Clint’s arm.

“No, I’m not.” Tony says. “I’m looking to create my own agreement with the Accords Council. A new group as it were.”

“Never going to happen Stark.” Wanda says and Ross just leans forward.

“Who would this group entail?” He asks and Steve glances at him in shock, a feeling of betrayal at how easily and without any pushing he gives into Tony’s demands.

“Well there’s a certain big green guy who didn’t want to be present today due to certain company-”

“That want doesn’t seem to stop him from being here.” Clint snaps and Tony ignores him.

“- but he’s willing to step back up. There’s of course Thor and Loki who have agreed to liaise with me and a few other individuals who will remain nameless unless we move forward with this.” Tony clicks his fingers together. “Oh, and the Vision is willing to return from where he is and he’s got a few individuals who have offered to assist if he were to call on them.”

“The Avengers can welcome all those groups in.” Steve says. “We should be one group to show a united front.”

“There’s nothing united about us.” Tony retorts without even looking in his direction. “However, if the Council was to make a new agreement and arrangement for us, we will…work with the Avengers to a point.” Tony reaches into his pocket and slides a USB across the table to Ross. “This is the workup of the agreements that we’ve come to as a group. I think you’ll find them acceptable and reasonable-”

“That’s not hard with what they’ve had to work with so far.” Loki mumbles just loud enough to be heard as he flips another page of Steve’s Accords like he’s reading some interesting thriller or horror novel. Tony spares him a small, amused smirk before he’s all business again, looking at Ross.

“If the Council is willing to acknowledge and grant rights and recognition to other groups who would seek to protect this planet, then I would say that not only will I sign on, but I will enter negotiations for several other groups lying in wait and I will return to some of my previous duties from before with these new groups.”

“Previous duties?” Ross asks curious.

“I will reopen the Compound as a training facility and I will assist in maintaining communication with these other groups as well as assisting with things like armor, medical care and things like that.”

“But not for the Avengers?” Ross clarifies and Tony nods.

“Correct, The Avengers are their own entity and they are more than welcome to attempt to open up discussions of cross team negotiations, but they will not benefit from any Stark related programs, items or anything else that I might bring to the table.”

“So you’ll share your toys with all the other kids on the playground but not us.” Clint snaps and Tony looks at him.

“Correct Barton. You’ve bit the hand that fed you too many times, and as such I’m not interested in assisting you in any capacity.”

“We will of course accept negotiations and talks for new groups under the Accords Council.” Ross says and Steve stares at him betrayed. “The more groups there are, the safer Earth is. And that’s what we’re all here for yes?”

“Of course.” Tony says and Steve slowly nods even as his teeth grind.

+++

The only good thing of Ross accepting Tony’s offer is that it puts Tony back in Steve’s path. Logically Steve always knew that Tony and his paths would merge once again someday, it was just how it was with them, but he wishes that it hadn’t brought Loki along for the ride.

The other groups though are interesting.

Some of them are brand new, like these ‘Fantastic Four’ who haven’t fully figured out their powers but who chatter excitedly with Bruce and Tony over theories and formulas and crazy science stuff that Steve can’t even begin to comprehend.

Other groups are apparently much older. Like the Defenders, made up of several vigilantes and a rich monk-savior backer who have all worked together to save New York a few times and who have a rapport like what Steve and his team used to have.

Although Steve thinks that all of the groups might be better off without the either drunk or constantly vulgar Jessica Jones.

It’s not his call though, and Tony and Jessica seem to be two peas in a drunken pod from what Steve can tell.

“Where are Thor and Loki?” The young woman named Darcy asks, and Steve’s not really sure why the busty brunette is here either. She doesn’t seem to bring anything to the table other than the fact that she’s Thor’s girlfriend’s friend…the one with the taser. Apparently, that’s a thing to note.

“They said they’d be here soon.” Tony says as he watches the one named Reed draw up some crazy looking chicken scratch up on the white board and Tony nods before motioning to something and asking questions before settling in to listen to Reed explain it to him.

The portal comes both far too late and far too early as Thor steps out and Loki follows behind before it closes. The man that Steve’s come to know as Doctor Strange lets his hands fall as the golden energy dissipates and he walks over to where Danny Rand – Iron Fist – is as they start talking some mystical mumbo jumbo.

“Did you get the information?” Tony asks, coming over and Thor nods.

“Aye, and we’ve picked up another team for our growing army.” Thor says with a proud sort of puff to his chest.

“Basically, Thor got his ass handed to him by Thanos’s daughter and has convinced her to join our cause with her team.” Loki steps into the conversation and Steve stares.

“You want us to work with Thanos’s _daughter_?” He asks and he gets two blank nods from the Asgardian’s.

“She and her sister despise their father. They will help us.” Thor tells him before Thor nudges Loki with a grin that looks like an older brother picking on a younger. “Perhaps you should give Stark that thing.” He says. “That thing you brought along for him.”

“You brought me a gift Reindeer Games?” Tony asks, an amused smile twisting onto his lips and Loki looks mildly uncomfortable as he glares daggers at Thor before he sighs and does something with his ‘magics’ before he holds up a luminescent flower in the palm of his hand.

It’s beautiful, like a lily with softly glowing blue petals.

“It reminded me of that bauble you used to have.” Loki says in explanation as he holds it out for Tony and Tony stares at it in slight wonder as he takes it.

“Oh…thanks. It’s actually…really cool.” He looks up and grins at Loki. “And you’re right, that is ARC Reactor Blue. That’s pretty awesome.”

The return smile that Loki gives Tony puts Steve on edge.

“Hey Tony.” Steve asks when the meetings are over and everyone is starting to leave, and he’s a little surprised when Tony stops to look at him. “I was hoping…that we might talk for a minute.” He glances at Loki who has come to a stop next to Tony as well. “Alone.” He bites off a little more harshly than he means and Tony shakes his head.

“No, I don’t think so.” Tony says. “We have nothing to talk about that we haven’t already discussed.”

“There are lots of things we haven’t talked about.” Steve argues. “I was thinking…maybe we could…get dinner somewhere? Just sit and…talk? Like we used to?”

“We used to talk?” Tony asks and it actually sounds legitimately surprised or confused even though Steve knows that Tony’s taking a shot at him. “But no can do.”

“Tony, _please_.” Steve begs and Tony shakes his head.

“Sorry, I already have plans.”

“You do?” He asks and Tony nods.

“Yeah, I’m introducing Loki to Fusion restaurants. Do you know how boring food is on Asgard? Boring, totally boring.” Tony chuckles to himself. “More like boar-ing.”

“That was embarrassing.” Loki says with a small grin and Tony cackles at it, wiping away a tear after a moment.

“Oh god, I crack myself up. But anyways, this really good Thai Fusion’s on the menu for today and we’ve got to go or we’ll miss our reservation.” Tony pauses. “But I feel the need to say even if I hadn’t already made plans, the answer was no, and it was going to stay no. You had your chance to ‘talk’ to me Rogers, and you didn’t. You lied and you omitted and you ostracized me and you condemned me and questioned me and crucified me at every turn. I think it’s pretty safe to say that I’d rather stay as far away from that kind of bullshit for the rest of my life.”

“That wasn’t what it was like Tony.” Steve says. “And I never meant to hurt you. I swear I didn’t.”

“Well congratulations. You did. You hurt me and you did it pretty damn spectacularly for someone who wasn’t even trying. So, you’ll understand if I avoid you like the plague because if that’s all the shit you did when you weren’t trying, I’d hate to see what happens when you do.” Tony accepts his jacket from Loki and lets the frost giant help him get it on. His arm is still bad, with that tremor and stiffness that’s never gone away since Germany. “We’ll fight together Rogers when Thanos comes, but that’s as far as you and I go from here on out.”

“We were friends once Tony, teammates…family.” Steve pauses. “Maybe…something more.” There’s a frown that crosses Tony’s face instantly.

“Wow, bringing _that_ up. I think it’s pretty safe to say that you and I slammed the door on _that_ a long time ago.”

“Maybe it’s not safe to say that.” Steve hedges and Tony stares at him.

“Well then I feel sorry for you, because that door is firmly closed on my side. Bolted even. Dozens of locks put in place. That door’s never opening again Rogers. Period.” He tugs on his sleeves. “So I recommend that you learn how to close it on your side too, because it’s never going to happen.”

“Maybe it could…someday…when we’ve had time-”

“I’m not waiting for that Rogers, at all. Like at all at all. I just told you I’m going on a date. I’m not waiting around for some ‘maybe love story’ that you think we might have someday in the future.”

“Wait, _date_?” Steve jumps on that word. “With him?” He points to Loki and Tony nods.

“Yeah, with Loki.” He puts the glowing blue flower in his front pocket for the world to see. “So, this is goodbye Rogers.”

“Tony, I care about you and you know that Loki doesn’t. He’s just using you.”

“Maybe.” Tony says and Steve stares at him.

“Maybe?”

“Maybe he is, maybe he isn’t. I guess I won’t know until I know.” Tony shrugs. “But that’s how it works for everyone. That’s just how the game is played. I played it with you and I learned, now I’m playing it with him. I guess I’ll see how it turns out.”

“He’s dangerous.” Steve presses and Tony looks at him.

“I’m not your concern Rogers, and I’m not looking for your approval.” He says as he turns away from him. “Good luck Rogers, I’ll see you when I see you.” He pulls out some sunglasses and slides them onto his face, walking over to where Loki has slipped off to give them some space.

He doesn’t turn around as the two of them leave and Steve shakes his head.

Tony’s playing with fire again, he always does.

But Thanos will come, and they’ll work together and Loki will betray him and Steve will be there for him too.

Steve will always be there for him.

**Author's Note:**

> Please no comments of a negative or critiquing nature.


End file.
